1985 Vert - Starting The Fix-Up

[CocoLoco]

No black was used in 1985 for an interior dash. The only black was the steering column covers, steering wheel and e-brake handle.

EDIT: I see the brochure. It is a prototype car. Don't go by that.

If you have a sand beige dash you need a sand beige dash pad.

-Mike

Thanks for setting me straight. I looked around the net and found a few Capri & Mustang pixs - some looked darker on top, some not. All depended on the color. Reds looked the same. Grays looked slightly different. I really couldn't find a good shot of the beige. So I will take your word for it. Maybe when I pull it off I will be able to see another color underneath. This car is turning into a jigsaw puzzle. Trying to sort out 26 years of what's original and what's not. Like I said before, I'm not a stickler for being all original, but I certainly do try to do so when I can. Already spent too much $$$ at Paradise. probably spend a lot more before I am done. But the car will be show quality !!!

[plumkrazy]

Check out these pictures I took and posted on 4eyed


http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthread.php?t=80802

[CocoLoco]

Check out these pictures I took and posted on 4eyed


http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthread.php?t=80802

That's it - it's the bottom color. You call it Nutmeg. So it looks like that my be the original color ???

[CocoLoco]

Well, November and December were bad months for progress on the car. I had the honor of spending a week on an airbase in Qatar. I am doing some consulting work for a major engineering firm who does a lot of defense work. And then the holidays. And then a week's vacation - a cruise to the Bahamas. Fun trip but very cold and windy last week down there. No beach time. Only got off the boat for 2 hours in Nassau. But hey - it was better than being up here. I cant' bitc*.

I just got my next box of goodies from Henry. Mainly, it's the tonneau applique. I took the old one off and it was in pieces held together by duct tape, glue and some wishful thinking. So it's time to replace.

Now it's time to tear the dash apart. I'm going to send the dash pad to Just Dashes for a refurb. Also, new woodgrain parts, a new radio and some trim touch-up. So off I go.........

[CocoLoco]

Hi all - I got the dash pad off today. Wasn't hard at all. It appears it has always been the darker Nutmeg color. No sign of being painted. But I do have 2 questions :

1) I started to remove the instrument cluster. Got all 4 screws out and it is loose. But it will only come out an inch or so. I think the speedo cable is the problem. How do I disconnect the cable - not much room. Am I missing something?

2) The passanger side front dash panel is a little loose. I would like to take it off and clean it too. But I don't see how it is attached. I saw a similar Mustang online and it looks like there are 4 screws under the wood trim piece. I want to replace the wood anyway, so am I on the right track?

Thanks in advance - Dwight

[capri50asc]

Hi

when you are sitting in the front seat, take your right hand and position it
behind the speedometer cable. You will feel a square tab that is about the size of a nickel. Push that tab and push it toward you! sometime you may need to go back and forth ( pull and push) It will then unhook. Then you will
have two electrical connectors . These you will squeezed on the ends and GENTLE pull them out. You cluster will then come out.

TIP: Change your blubs
Lube up your speedometer cable
Clean all contacts on the printed circuit
Do not over tight any screws

Chris

86 vert
86 Capri RS
73 Cougar
07 Ridgeline
10 Ford Fusion

[CocoLoco]

Thanks Chris !!! That did it. And thanks for the other advise. I was going to clean it all but never thought about the bulbs. A real good time to do that. One additonal thing - there are two more connectors on my cluster for the bottom 2 idiot lights on the left hand side - shift and engine trouble. Probably because I have a manual shift. I'm leaving the shift light out. That thing is dam**d annoying. I KNOW when to shift. Only been doing it for 38 years.

Now on to my other problems....... Dwight

Hi

when you are sitting in the front seat, take your right hand and position it
behind the speedometer cable. You will feel a square tab that is about the size of a nickel. Push that tab and push it toward you! sometime you may need to go back and forth ( pull and push) It will then unhook. Then you will
have two electrical connectors . These you will squeezed on the ends and GENTLE pull them out. You cluster will then come out.

TIP: Change your blubs
Lube up your speedometer cable
Clean all contacts on the printed circuit
Do not over tight any screws

Chris

86 vert
86 Capri RS
73 Cougar
07 Ridgeline
10 Ford Fusion

[KHummel66]

2) The passanger side front dash panel is a little loose. I would like to take it off and clean it too. But I don't see how it is attached. I saw a similar Mustang online and it looks like there are 4 screws under the wood trim piece. I want to replace the wood anyway, so am I on the right track?

Thanks in advance - Dwight

There are two large flat stamped metal 'nuts' that screw onto posts on the back of the passenger side panel. You will want to remove the glove box (remove 3 or 4 screws for the hinge) to aid access - it's tight back there. Now comes the fun part, lying on the floor on your back, you reach up behind the panel to remove / install the nuts. Sorry, I don't recall what size the nuts are.

[CocoLoco]

More than likely the owner put 140mph guage overlay over an 85 speedo. That is why it is so far off.

Use a hair dryer, and warm it up really well and the glue should release enough to pull it off. If it is an 85mph speedo underneath, those are fairly easy to find in nice shape as people want to upgrade to 140mph.

The 85 speedo is probably correct for the car. Come 85 coupes got 140mph speedos, some did not. Mine did not. Not sure on whether the verts got them at all.

SEM does make good paint, for the charcoal I found the Charcoal bumper coating is very very close. Their graphite interior color is a bit too green.

If you have tan or something else, it's worth picking up a can or two and trying it. If SEM does make a spot on color, use it. If not, and you have an SEM dealer near you, you can ask for a custom mix.

-Mike

I finally got to this. I used an old B&D heatgun I have on the 170 degree setting. Perfect temperature. They all peeled off with little effort. It did lift off a very, very small amount of the white speed lines, but not a big deal. Touched up one of them with a little White-Out and a toothpick. Turned out good.

As for the speedo issues, I think this will resolve it. The overlay was 0 to 140 while the speedo is marked 10 to 140. And the speeds marked on the overlay were off by about 5-7 MPH in the 60 MHP range. Exactly the error I was seeing. So basically, whomever put these on used the wrong ones!!!!! I didn't much care for them anyway as they were not OEM. And yes, the previous owner upgraded to the 140 speedo (from Henry). So when I put the the back together later this winter, I bet all my problems are solved. Yeah!!!!

I also polished up the plastic bezel with some Griots Plastic Polish. Turned out great. So now all I have to do is replace all the bulbs (as recommended by aonther member) and that part's done.

Oh - I am shipping my dash pad off to Just Dashes today. A bit pricey but it seems to be the best route.

Thanks to all who passed along advice on this stuff. Greatly appeciated. Now onto other things that need to be done......

[CocoLoco]

Well I'm back at it. The nice weather here has allowed me to pull the beast outside & do some work. Here's the latest:
1) Got the dash pad back from JustDashes. Really nice job. Mucho $$$ but I like it. Waiting to put it on until a bit later. And just for the record, the original color was the darker brown, not beige. I know Ford used this color (nutmeg??) but there is always a possibility that it was from another car. Oh well - too late now. It still looks good!!
2) Removed the console. Much to my suprise and dismay, it looks like some mice made thier home in the console at some point. Absolutely a mess. About 100 acorn shells, a nice nest made from the fiber floor insulation, poop, etc. So I disinfected, vacuumed, cleaned. Messy job. It looked like there was some kind of fiber insulation in the console. So I took what was left out and put in some new aluminum backed fiber stuff. Turned out nice. I guess it was there for heat & sound deadening. Any ideas??
3) Put in a new radio. Sandy - not a new one, an old used Kenwood KRC-2000 I got on Ebay. I know you like keeping things as original as possible. Just trying my best to keep you happy.
4) Today, tore out the back storage area. More cleaning. And I shampooed the carpets under the bins, on the surround and on the bins. Re-assembled putting the leftover insulation under the bins. Clean!!!!

Now for some issues I'm having:
1) I bought some SEM Sand Beige paint to do some of the interior parts. On a test run, it looks darker than the original pieces. I know I have seen other posts on this but can't find them. Can somebody help me here. Is there a better color to use?
2) I still don't think my tonneau pulldown is working properly. I goes down on it's own when you lower it into position. The switch does indeed pop it and run it up when toggled "up" but the down position doesn't seem to do anything. I checked the switch. Ther are three wires - Red/wht on top pin (1), white on middle pin (3) and blue on bottom pin (5). It has 5 pins and works like this:
Middle position - 1 and 2 made, 4 and 5 made.
Up position - 1 and 3 made, all else open.
Down position - 3 and 5 made, all else open.
So basically, it is a single pole, double throw center off switch. Maybe the thing is just working fine, but it seems different than described for the Mustangs. HELP !!!!!!

OK -I'm tired now. Time to rest. Rain coming back tomorrow. I took bunches of pictures today so I will post them up tonight or tomorrow.

Dwight

[dahberg]

Now for some issues I'm having:
1) I bought some SEM Sand Beige paint to do some of the interior parts. On a test run, it looks darker than the original pieces. I know I have seen other posts on this but can't find them. Can somebody help me here. Is there a better color to use?

Dwight

I offered the Omni-Pak Lacquer Blend FL 44 Light Sand Beige - Flat Mustang Lacquer for the cost of $10 plus shipping. Offer still holds. I have an 85 vert with the light sand beige interior and used this to touch up the kick panels, boot covers, and seat belt sleeves. It is a perfect color match to my 85 interior. Ordered 1 can originally and then turned around and purchased 4 more for $94 once I was sure of the color. Three cans have never been used. It did not adhere to the seat belt sleeves, but then I was not patient and probably needed a better prep paint. Your call, pm me with info if interested.

[negusm]

SEM is very good paint but the colors don't match 100%.

Go with Dahberg as his sounds like the mixed version that FMR/LRS/etc sell.

It will match much better.

-Mike

[CocoLoco]

Mike - the paint I have is from LMR. It't just a little more "brown" than a perfect match. I bought the dye also for the flexible parts. I will get in touch with Dahberg. The only flex parts that need painted are the seatbelt sleeves. So maybe I can get away with the dye I have for those, or just change them out for black ones.

Dahberg - PM on it's way.

Thanks - Dwight

[negusm]

Seatbelt sleeves need the lacquer paint. They aren't "flexible".

When they mean "Flexible" they mean door panel fabric, seats, etc.

-Mike

[Sandy]

Put in a new radio. Sandy - not a new one, an old used Kenwood KRC-2000 I got on Ebay. I know you like keeping things as original as possible. Just trying my best to keep you happy.

Man, thst really cheered me up. Had chemo on Tuesday (ALWAYS ON TUESDAY) and by early Friday, I am really sick. No, not puking, just very cold body temp., nervious, ShAkY and not hungry. Usually feel better by Sunday.....USALLY.....not always ... sometimes I wanna